India holds religious celebrations year-round, along with numerous fairs and cultural festivals. Dates of some celebrations are determined by the lunar calendar .If you are planning to travel to India, the below list would give an idea of the festivals that you could enjoy during the Travel dates.<\/p>\n
DEC. –<\/strong>\u00a0The\u00a0Shekhavati Festival<\/strong>\u00a0celebrates the frescoes on the local havelis (mansions), as well as other local arts, traditional music and dance, and cuisine from this Rajasthan region. At the\u00a0Shilp Darshan Mela<\/strong>\u00a0near Udaipur, master craftsmen show how they create award-winning handicrafts, and dancers and musicians perform.<\/p>\n JAN.<\/strong>\u00a0Republic Day<\/strong>, the 26th, commemorates the adoption of India’s constitution with a big parade in Delhi and celebrations elsewhere. Kerala’s four-day\u00a0Great Elephant March<\/strong>\u00a0features caparisoned elephants, snake-boat races, and cultural events in various locales. The two-day\u00a0Camel Festival<\/strong>\u00a0in Bikaner (Rajasthan) celebrates the ship of the desert with parades, races, and dancing.\u00a0Makar Sankranti<\/strong>\u00a0has people engaging in kite duels from rooftops in Ahmedabad. In Tamil Nadu,\u00a0Pongal<\/strong>, a colorful three-day festival at the close of the harvest season gives thanks to the rain god, the sun god, and the cow with bonfires, games, dancing, and cows bedecked with garlands.<\/p>\n JAN to FEB –<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0During\u00a0Gangasagar Mela<\/strong>, the festival of the Ganges River, pilgrims from all over India celebrate the most important natural element in their mythology. Na-gaur (Rajasthan) holds enormous\u00a0cattle fair<\/strong>\u00a0complete with camel races and cultural programs. The five-day Desert Fair, Jaisalmer’s gala, includes traditional Rajasthani music and dance, handicrafts, camel caravans, camel races, and turban-tying events.<\/p>\n FEB – For the three-day\u00a0Elephant Festival of Music and Dance<\/strong>, artists perform nightly on a platform near these Maharashtra caves. The\u00a0Surajkund Crafts Mela<\/strong>\u00a0draws crowds to a village near Delhi to watch traditional dances, puppeteers, magicians, and acrobats and to shop for crafts made by artisans from every state. On\u00a0Losar<\/strong>, the Buddhist New Year, costumed lamas (monks) perform dances at monasteries in Sikkim.<\/p>\n FEB to MAR.<\/strong>\u00a0On the eve of Holi, the festival of spring, Hindus nation-wide light a bonfire and send a female demon up in flames, demonstrating the destruction of evil; the next day, children throw colored water on each other and you.\u00a0On\u00a0Id-ul-Fitr<\/strong>, the Muslim holiday that concludes the month-long Ramadan fast, the devout give alms to the poor, offer prayers, and feast and rejoice. The\u00a0Kumbh Mela<\/strong>, a celebration of immortality, is India’s largest religious festival and a stunning spectacle of bathers in the Ganges. Held every three years in Allahabad, Haridwar, Nasik, or Ujjain, it comes to Allahabad in February 2001. The two-week\u00a0Taj Mahotsav<\/strong>\u00a0spotlights Agra’s heritage through handicrafts and cultural events.<\/p>\n MAR –\u00a0India’s best per-formers entertain in the moonlight, with historic Kailasa Temple as a backdrop, for the three-day\u00a0Ellora Festival of Classical Music and Dance<\/strong>. India’s best dancer\u2019s present classical works at the\u00a0Khajuraho Dance Festival<\/strong>\u00a0held in part on an outdoor stage against the temples. Pachyderms have their day in Jaipur when the\u00a0Elephant Festival<\/strong>\u00a0sets off processions, races, and even elephant polo.<\/p>\n MAR – APR – Carnival\u2014<\/strong>the Mardi Gras held just before Lent\u2014hits Goa as a big party with masked dancers, floats, and good eating. The\u00a0Gangaur Festival<\/strong>\u00a0of Jaipur and Udaipur honors the goddess Parvati with processions of young girls and images of the goddess and, in Udaipur, fire-works, dancing, and a procession of boats on Lake Pichola.<\/p>\n APR-<\/strong>\u00a0Honoring Lord Jagannath, Bhubaneswar’s 21-day\u00a0Chandan Yatra<\/strong>\u00a0features processions in which images of deities are carried to sacred tanks and rowed around in decorated boats.<\/p>\n APR – MAY\u00a0–\u00a0At\u00a0Puram<\/strong>, a major temple festival in Trichur (Kerala), elephants sporting gold-plated mail carry Brahmins with ceremonial umbrellas and the temple deity, Vadakkunathan (Shiva), in a procession to the beat of temple drums. The spectacular 10-day\u00a0Chitra Festival<\/strong>\u00a0celebrates the marriage of goddess Meenakshi to Lord Shiva at Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple.<\/p>\n MAY-<\/strong>\u00a0Buddhists celebrate\u00a0Buddha Jayanti<\/strong>\u2014the birthday, enlightenment, and death of Sakyamunni (Historic Buddha)\u2014with rituals and chants at monasteries. Special celebrations are held in Sikkim and other major pilgrim-age centers, such as Sarnath and Bodhgaya. On\u00a0Muharram<\/strong>, Shiite Muslims commemorate the martyrdom of the Prophet Mohammed’s grandson Hussain, who died in the battle of Karbala. Participants’ intense self-flagellation may disturb the squeamish. On\u00a0Bakrid<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0Id-ul-Zuha,<\/strong>\u00a0celebrating the sacrifice of Harrat Ibrahim (Abraham), Muslims solemnly sacrifice one animal per family (or group of families) and conclude with a feast and joyous celebration.<\/p>\n JUNE TO JULY –\u00a0<\/strong>Puri’s seven-day\u00a0Roth Yatra<\/strong>, honoring Lord Krishna, is Orissa’s most sacred festival and draws big crowds. The two-day\u00a0Hemis Festival<\/strong>\u00a0at Ladakh’s largest monastery commemorates the birthday of Guru Padmasambhava with masked lamas performing ritual chaams (dances) and haunting music.<\/p>\n JULY TO AUG<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0In Jaipur, women and girls observe\u00a0Teej<\/strong>, the arrival of the monsoon, dedicating their festivities to the goddess Parvati.<\/p>\n AUG –<\/strong>\u00a0Independence Day<\/strong>, on the 15th, commemorates India’s independence from British rule in 1947.<\/p>\n AUG TO SEPT<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Ganesha Chaturthi<\/strong>, a 10-day festival celebrated in Bombay and Pune, marks the birthday of the Hindus’ elephant-headed god; clay images of Ganesh are paraded through streets and installed on plat-forms.\u00a0Onam<\/strong>\u00a0celebrates Kerala’s harvest season with dancing, singing, and exotic snake-boat races in Alleppey, Aranmula, and Kottayam.\u00a0Pang Lhabsol<\/strong>\u00a0offers thanks to Mt. Kanchenjunga, Sikkim’s guardian deity, and hon-ors Yabdu, the great warrior who protects the mountain.<\/p>\n SEPT TO OCT –<\/strong>\u00a0Calcutta turns into one big party for\u00a0Dussehra<\/strong>, or\u00a0Durga Puja<\/strong>, a 10-day festival honoring the Hindu goddesses Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati. Farther south, Mysore hosts concerts and cultural events in Durbar Hall, and the maharaja himself comes out in full regalia, complete with some palace treasures, for the traditional procession.<\/p>\nSpring<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Summers and Monsoon Period<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Autumn<\/strong><\/h3>\n